On this day: July 12

2011: TV writer Sherwood Schwartz, the creator of "Gilligan's Island" and "The Brady Bunch," dies at age 94 in Los Angeles, California.

2010: Author and critic Harvey Pekar, best known for his autobiographical "American Splendor" comic series, dies at age 70 in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, of an accidental overdose of antidepressants fluoxetine and bupropion. In 2003, his comic series inspired a film adaptation of the same name, with Pekar portrayed by Paul Giamatti.

2008: Tony Snow (left), who served as the third White House press secretary under President George W. Bush and also worked for President George H. W. Bush as chief speechwriter and deputy assistant of media affairs, dies of colon cancer at age 53 at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C.

2000: The movie "X-Men" premieres on Ellis Island in New York. The superhero movie, directed by Bryan Singer and featuring an ensemble cast that includes Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, Famke Janssen, James Marsden and Rebecca Romijn, proved a box office hit, spawning a film franchise and a re-emergence of superhero films in general.

1984: Democratic presidential candidate Walter F. Mondale names U.S. Rep. Geraldine A. Ferraro of New York to be his running mate, making her the first woman to run for vice president on a major party ticket.

1982: "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" breaks box-office records by surpassing the $100-million mark of ticket sales in the first 31 days of its opening. Less than a year later that record was broken by "Return of the Jedi," which made the $100-million mark in 23 days. Several films, including "The Avengers," "The Dark Knight" and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2," now hold the current record of two days.

1979: Singer-songwriter Minnie Riperton, best known for her 1975 No. 1 hit single "Lovin' You," dies of breast cancer at age 31 in Los Angeles, California.

1979: The Chicago White Sox host "Disco Demolition Night" at Comiskey Park. The event, which included an on-field detonation of a crate of disco records, was marred by a near-riot that ensued after rowdy fans surged onto the field. The game was called and the White Sox later forfeited.

1978: Actress Michelle Rodriguez, best known for movies such as "Girlfight," "The Fast and the Furious," "Resident Evil" and "Avatar" (pictured), is born in San Antonio, Texas.

1978: Actor Topher Grace, best known for the sitcom "That '70s Show" and movies like "In Good Company," "Spider-Man 3" and "Predators," is born in New York City.

1973: Actor Lon Chaney Jr., the son of famous silent film actor Lon Chaney best known for his starring role in the 1941 movie "The Wolf Man," dies of heart failure at age 67 in San Clemente, California. Chaney also reprised his most famous role in various crossover films and was also known for playing other classic monsters, including Frankenstein's monster in 1942's "The Ghost of Frankenstein" and Kharis the mummy in "The Mummy's Tomb" (1942), "The Mummy's Ghost" (1944) and "The Mummy's Curse" (1944). He also played the title character, Count Alucard -- Dracula spelled backward -- in 1943's "Son of Dracula." He also had roles in "Of Mice and Men," "High Noon" and "The Defiant Ones."

1971: Figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi, who won a gold medal at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, is born in Hayward, California. Yamaguchi also won two World Figure Skating Championships in 1991 and 1992 and a U.S. Figure Skating Championships in 1992.

1962: The Rolling Stones perform their first ever concert, at the Marquee Club in London.

1960: The first Etch-A-Sketch rolls off a factory line in Bryan, Ohio.

1954: The Major League Baseball Players Association, which had organized informally in 1946 as a "players' fraternity," is founded.

1951: Screenwriter and producer Brian Grazer, who co-founded Imagine Entertainment with Ron Howard, is born in Los Angeles, California. Grazer has been personally nominated for Academy Awards for the movies "Splash," "Apollo 13," "A Beautiful Mind" and "Frost/Nixon," winning as part of the Best Picture Oscar for "A Beautiful Mind" in 2002.

1951: Actress Cheryl Ladd (center), best known for her role as Kris Munroe in the television series "Charlie's Angels," is born Cheryl Jean Stoppelmoor in Huron, South Dakota.

1948: Fitness trainer and actor Richard Simmons, known for his "Sweatin' to the Oldies" line of aerobics videos and his eccentric, outgoing and energetic personality, is born Milton Teagle Simmons in New Orleans, Louisiana.

1943: Singer-songwriter and musician Christine McVie, best known as a member of Fleetwood Mac, is born in Bouth, Lancashire, England. McVie is responsible for writing and singing some of the band's biggest hits, including "Don't Stop," "Little Lies," "Everywhere" and "You Make Loving Fun."

1937: Comedian and actor Bill Cosby, best known for the sitcom "The Cosby Show," is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Cosby, a veteran standup comedian who got his start in the 1960s, is also known for the 1960s action series "I Spy" and creating the educational cartoon comedy series "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids."

1910: Charles Rolls, the English engineer and aviator who joined with industrialist Henry Royce to found Rolls-Royce Ltd. in 1906, dies in an air crash when the tail of his Wright Flyer breaks off during a flying display in Bournemouth, England. At the onset of World War I, the company turned from automobiles to the production of much-needed reliable engines for aviation. After the war, Rolls-Royce continued both as a manufacturer of luxury automobiles and airplane engines.

1909: Congress approves a resolution proposing the 16th Amendment, which, upon ratification in 1913, established the federal income tax.

1908: Actor and comedian Milton Berle, known to millions of viewers as "Uncle Miltie" and "Mr. Television" during TV's golden age, is born Milton Berlinger in New York City. Berle was the first major American television star, hosting NBC's "Texaco Star Theater" comedy-variety show from 1948 to 1955. He started out as a child actor in silent films and moved onto vaudeville, stand-up comedy and radio stardom in the 1920s and 1930s. He died of colon cancer at the age of 93 on March 27, 2002.

1901: Cy Young wins his 300th game, leading the Boston Americans (soon to be known as the Red Sox) over the Philadelphia A's. Young would win 211 more games, for a total of 511, the most in major-league history.

1895: Lyricist and playwright Oscar Hammerstein II is born in New York City. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and two Academy Awards in his career and is best known for his collaborations with composer Richard Rodgers, including "Oklahoma!," "The King and I," "South Pacific" and "The Sound of Music." He died of stomach cancer at the age of 65 on Aug. 23, 1960.

1886: Actor Jean Hersholt is born in Copenhagen, Denmark. Hersholt's long career in Hollywood included 17 years starring on radio in "Dr. Christian" and playing Shirley Temple's grandfather in 1937's "Heidi." He also served 18 years as president of the Motion Picture Relief Fund and was president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 1945 to 1949. Hersholt was twice honored for his service to the film industry with honorary Academy Awards and the Academy's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award has been awarded periodically in his honor since his 1956 death.

1884: Film producer Louis B. Mayer, generally cited as the creator of the "star system" within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios in its golden years, is born Lazar Meir in Minsk, Russian Empire. Mayer, seen here with Joan Crawford in 1953, was the first person in American history to earn a million-dollar salary and was the highest-paid man in the United States for the nine years from 1937.

1864: Generally recognized as the birthdate of George Washington Carver, inventor of peanut butter and more than 400 plant products, although the exact day and year of his birth are unknown.

1862: The Medal of Honor is authorized by the United States Congress. Pictured are the three current designs for the medal.

1854: George Eastman, who would go on to found the Eastman Kodak Company and invent roll film, is born in Waterville, New York.

1849: Dolley Madison, the first lady of the United States from 1809 to 1817 as the wife of President James Madison, dies at age 81 in Washington, D.C.

1817: Author and philosopher Henry David Thoreau, best known for his book "Walden" and his essay "Civil Disobedience," is born in Concord, Massachusetts.

1804: Former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton dies a day after being shot in a duel with Vice President Aaron Burr.

100 B.C.: Julius Caesar is born in Rome (although some reports also list July 13 as his birthdate).

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